Judaic Studies Courses: Fall 2005
Advanced Electives can be viewed here.
HEBREW
JUDC 101-001 Elementary Hebrew - Ms. Gutmark | MWF 10-10:50
JUDC 101-002 Elementary Hebrew - Staff | TH 12:30-1:50
In this course, students will acquire basic conversational and grammatical Hebrew skills. Students will learn primary grammatical structures and develop a vocabulary that will allow them to carry basic conversations in modern Hebrew. In addition to the linguistic aspects of the course, students will be introduced to various facets of modern Israeli culture - the culture in which modern Hebrew developed and continues to evolve. Students will listen to live Israeli radio, read newspapers at basic level, watch movies and video clips, learn songs, eat Israeli food, play games, and learn about the Jewish holidays. Emphasis is placed on developing basic skills: listening, reading, writing, comprehension, and conversation. The course is tailored to accommodate students on different levels.
JUDC 201 - Intermediate Hebrew - Ms.Gutmark | MWF 9-9:50
Games, Israeli movies, songs, and newspapers, recordings of conversations, art, Israeli food, celebrating holidays, live Israeli radio: these are some of the means by which Modern Hebrew is taught in this Intermediate-level class. This course is a dynamic combination of grammar, syntax, vocabulary, prose and poetry, and Israeli culture. Emphasis is placed on developing skills on an intermediate level: listening, reading, writing, comprehension, and conversation. Students have the opportunity to teach their class-mates and give oral presentations regularly. Group work, cooperative learning and discussions are used in every class. In-class work is supplemented by multimedia activities, using audio-visual web sites, in order to give students multiple learning opportunities suited to a variety of learning styles.
JUDC 261 Biblical Hebrew 1 – Mr. Brolley | MWF 2:00-2:50
This course is open to majors and non-majors. Students will learn the basics of biblical Hebrew, become familiar with support resources that facilitate independent Bible reading, and learn about the environment surrounding biblical texts as they emerged. First quarter topics will include alphabet, vocalization, syllables, definite article, prepositions, noun patterns and endings, pronouns, and vocabulary.
JUDC 331 Advanced Modern Hebrew - Dr. Kaplan | MWF 11-11:50
This is an advanced level course in Modern Hebrew with a focus on Modern Hebrew texts. The aim of this course is to develop students’ abilities to read texts in modern Hebrew, through intensive study of advanced aspects of Hebrew grammar, morphology, phonology, syntax and semantics through reading and grammatical analysis of selected texts. Class discussions will be based on assigned readings, and deal with topics of general interest and with issues related to Israeli society.
CORE COURSES
JUDC 127-001 History of Jewish Civilization - Dr. Kraus | TH 11:00-12:20
JUDC 127-002 History of Jewish Civilization - Dr. Kraus | MWF 12-12:50
The history of the Jews and of Judaism reaches back as early as the Biblical book of Genesis, and forward to our own day. This three thousand year journey is surveyed in this three-quarter introductory sequence, any part of which may be taken independently. This first segment begins with the civilization and religion of Ancient Israel, tracing the history of the Jews from their exile in Babylonia to the rise of Islam. We will study the primary documents and monuments, as well as political, religious and social developments against the background of relations with Persia, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. The centrality of the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the rise of Christianity and finally the Judaism of the Talmudic Rabbis will be explored. Field trip.
JUDC 135 - Introduction to Judaism - Dr. Kraus | TH 9:30-10:50
Judaism is the religion of the Jews. In this course, we will explore the ideas, texts, and religious practices of the Jewish people. The course will introduce students to the basic texts of Judaism (Bible, Talmud, prayer book), to the Jewish concepts of God, Torah, and Israel, to the cycle of festivals and the life cycle. We will pay attention to contemporary issues such as the encounter between Judaism and modernism and the similarities and differences between Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist and Humanist Jews. Field trip.
ELECTIVES
JUDC 228 - Introduction to Biblical Studies - Mr. Brolley | MWF 9-9:50
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the rich and intriguing history of biblical interpretation, beginning with ways in which Bible writers examine other Bible writers. We will also examine and apply basic modern interpretive methods used in Bible scholarship, and develop familiarity and comfort with biblical literature as an object of study, regardless of one's religious or philosophical background.
JUDC 229 - Sacred Texts: Hebrew Scriptures - Mr. Brolley | MWF 12-12:50
This course provides the student with an overview of the Hebrew Bible in English translation, without neglecting the significance of biblical Hebrew. We will examine and discuss basic issues of scripture and canon, and will occasionally compare Judaism’s and Christianity’s approaches to the biblical writings. There will also be extensive discussion of such topics as literary genre, authorship and editorial activity, and historical context. Throughout the quarter, we will engage a broad range of scholarly opinion concerning the Bible’s composition and content.
JUDC 327-001 Modern Israel – Dr. Kaplan | MWF 1:00-1:50
This course examines the formation and the development of modern Israel. The course will follow the transition in Israel from a conformist society dominated by Zionist ideology to a society seriously questioning its values, ideals and norms. It will focus on these changes in a wide range of sources: historical, cultural, literary, cinematic and more. The course focuses on the ideological orgins of Zionist ideology as well as on role of the Holocaust; the Arab-Jewish conflict; and Sephardi - Ashkenzi relations in the development of contemporary Israeli society.
EVENING COURSE: JUDC 328-901 Women in the Bible – Dr. Bowman | T 6:30-9:10
This course will read and examine the passages dealing with women in the Bible and analyze them within the context of their contemporary history. It will also discuss the use and abuse of these texts in later periods and their effect upon the status of women.
JUDC 371 Jews in American Film – Dr. Naveh | H 2-4:40
In this course, students will acquire a new visual-verbal literacy by exploring the representation of Jews in American film as well as the role played by Jews in developing the Hollywood film industry. In studying how Jewish life and Jewish aspirations were “translated” into movies, students, whose cultural identity is being shaped by film and T.V., will learn more about Jews in America while also understanding how visual images transpose the written word. Students will also explore here how film images influence our affective experience and shape our understanding of ourselves and of history. Illustrations from films and fiction will underscore the points made in the classroom.
JUDC 379 - Judaism and Christianity in Conflict - Dr. Bowman | TH 12:30-1:50
The competition between Christianity and Judaism begins in the New Testament, receives its theological development from the Church Fathers and continues through the Middle Ages until the 20th century. This course will examine the sources from various periods against the background of Late Antique and Medieval history
JUDC 383 - Literature of the Holocaust - Dr. Naveh | TH 11-12:20
This is a survey of selected literary responses to the Holocaust, with primary attention to texts written by victims, survivors, and scholars, who ponder the dilemmas of the post-Holocaustian world. Interdisciplinary in orientation, this course integrates knowledge, while promoting critical thinking, effective communication, and social responsibility.
In this course, students will examine the ways in which writers of diverse backgrounds depict the Jewish experience on the background of the events of World War II and learn about the major ethical and aesthetical issues one confronts when dealing with Holocaust literature. Students will deal with questions such, as does literature of the Holocaust constitutes a unique literature, which has to define its own aesthetic and ethic formulation? How does the study of Holocaust literature engage productively other disciplines such as history, psychology, and sociology? Is literature of the Holocaust an extension of centuries of Jewish literary response, or does it offer a new paradigm and a new context for reading? Should Holocaust literature be read only as literature, or as Kaddish--a ceremonial prayer for the dead? Can there be a choice of aesthetics over ethics? How does the study of Holocaust literature promote cultural pluralism and diversity?
JUDC 394 - Modern Jewish Thought - Dr. Kaplan | MWF 1-1:50
This course will follow the major historical developments of Jewish thought since the seventeenth century through the work of some of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the modern era. It will explore how these different thinkers attempted to reconcile a tradition of 3,000 years with the scientific, ethical and cultural tenets of modern Western civilization. The course will begin by exploring the origins of modern Jewish identity in the seventeenth century through the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment (Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn). The course will then cover the period of German Jewish Idealism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Herman Cohen), the emergence of the existential interpretation of Judaism (Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig) as well as the emergence of Jewish nationalism as an intellectual and cultural movement (Ahad ha-Am). Finally, the course will look at post-Holocaust trends in Jewish thought; the emergence of feminist Jewish thought; and the post-modern turn in contemporary Jewish thought.
ASAP COURSE (Contact ASAP Director Dr. Terri Premo at 556-6612 for details.)
15JUDC 362-444 - American Jewish History -- Dr. Krome
Sundays: October 2, October 23, November 13 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
This course provides students with a survey of the major themes and events of the past three hundred and fifty years of the American Jewish experience. Special attention will be paid to the question of American exceptionalism and the challenges and opportunities faced by Jews living in a country without an established church. Student will also have an opportunity to examine primary documents drawn from the collection of the American Jewish Archives.
Winter 05 Courses
Fall 04 Courses
Summer 04 Courses
Winter 04 Courses
Department of Judaic Studies, 50 McMicken, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0169 E-mail: Judaic.Studies@uc.edu Tel: 513.556.2297
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